White Sox Moments From 1980

I attended a lot of Chicago White Sox games back in 1980 before moving to Denver the following year, and took a lot of photographs. The team still played at old Comiskey Park, built in 1910, back then, and was owned by baseball legend Bill Veeck. Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall were the broadcast team on the television, and Harry would lead the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch, as seen in the photograph on the left. It was Bill Veeck's idea for him to do that, and although he at first refused, Harry later decided to do it, and continued the tradition when he left the White Sox to broadcast the Chicago Cubs games. 

Jimmy Piersall was best known for his struggles with mental illness when he was a baseball player, and wrote the book Fear Strikes Out about his experience. It was also made into a movie. Whenever he and Harry had an argument about something in the broadcast booth, he would end the discussion by saying "I have papers in my pocket that say I'm sane, Harry. Do you?" Piersall passed away back in 2017 at an assisted living center in Chicago. He is seen in the photograph on the right talking with fans before the game.

Several times during the season, Veeck would have Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball," perform his antics on the field, as seen in the photograph on the left. He would annoy the hell out of the players and umpires, and get paid for it, too. I remember that he made a cameo appearance in the movie Bull Durham, and that is the last I ever heard of him. I googled his name, and learned that he retired in 1995, and passed away in 1999. In fact, everyone I've mentioned in this blog today is gone - Patkin, Harry Caray, Bill Veeck, Jimmy Piersall, and just recently, Mary Frances Veeck, Bill Veeck's wife and host of The Mary Frances Veeck and Friend radio program from years ago. Even Comiskey Park is gone, torn down back in 1991. The end of an era, I'm sad to say.